Joe is Dick/Don in 1983... an impostor in expensive suits who uses pretty words to sell and mask how fucked up he is...

Cameron's struggles and rise-to-power parallels Peggy somewhat...

The status quo of who works-where-and-with/for-who changes quite a bit from year to year. That's not something a lot of shows do, but these two did/do... (okay, not as frequently as The Good Wife moved their people around in the last few seasons...)

I mostly agree with Sepinwall's early reviews that discussed how HACF was kind of (like the computer) reverse-engineered from parts of other shows to be a 'quality drama'... but it found itself and became better and more unique in its second season. I say 'mostly' because I do think I enjoyed Season 1 more than he did...